Friday, May 23, 2008

Council Winners

Republicans have two key national issues they can run on and win. The first, the pocket book issue, is the price at the pump. The second is national security. But they will only win on those issues if they accomplish two prerequisites. One, they need to embrace fiscal responsibility like it was just written on stone tablets by fingers of flame emanating out of a burning bush. Two, they need to adopt an effective communications strategy.

He may be writing with great subtlety here and talking about a campaign strategy, rather than a governing policy. If so, the party would be harking back to Reagan, who raised plenty of taxes, spent plenty of money, and compromised on small things for the sake of shifting the government into different channels.

But I still think he overlooks the role of the irrational in voting. I don't think it matters who Republicans run. I think the voters are simply worn out after two terms of Bush and friends, and consider the conservatives have had their chance, and it's time to let some fresh ideas in. And however ambivalent many of them are about Obama, McCain and his platform-mates is likely to say any number of intemperate things between now and November that will edge the voters -- emotionally -- closer to Obama.

Let's see if I'm wrong.

It's refreshing, at least, to see that the voters in the council, most of them I think conservative Republicans, didn't take offense at being cast as Macbeth. Now if a Democrat had done that ....

Outside the council, the winner was Blog For Human Rights -- May 15th, 2008 at The Whited Sepulchre. This looks at the Four Freedoms, Roosevelt's bold proposal for a decent world, in light of some current events. It does so largely by putting up Norman Rockwell's moving illustrations of them against selected photos from current events.

Other votes went to Dow Jones: Israel Means Business at The Elder of Ziyon, about 90 percent of which is quoted from two other sites, one a news story, the other a blog roundup. That can be a useful thing to do, but I tend not to vote for those.